Last Week of My Training

Crazy that it is almost the end of another change, and even crazier that in one more week I will be out of training and technically a full blown missionary! Not that anything will really change dramatically except for a new companion. At least I think so. Elder Delgado keeps telling me that I´m either going to train someone, or be made a District Leader, but we´ll see haha.

P-Day Fun

Things were good and pretty normal here in Puebla, the area is still pretty tough but our efforts this last week weren't that great either. This week we are planning on working a lot harder. We did have some really good lessons this week with our few Investigators.

We also had interchanges with the District leader and his companion. That was actually really interesting because Elder Santizo (the district leader) came to our area with Elder Delgado and I went with Elder Lochmiller to their area. It was really interesting because Elder Lochmiller only has one more change than I do in the mission, so we were two Americans wandering around Puebla with our less than superb Spanish haha. It was good though, we actually taught about 3 lessons that day and we also had a member with us to help us out. It was good, and it was also a testament to me that the Lord really does help us out with the language, and that honestly the really important thing is to speak with the Spirit. There have definitely been times here, and in my old area where I´ve come out of lessons and realized that I couldn´t have said the things I said on my own. The church is true!

Church building in new area

So that was fun, and we also had General Conference! It was awesome! I actually had the oppertunity to watch the conference in English because our Mission President told us to watch it in whichever language we feel more comfortable with. We did watch the first couple talks in Spanish however, while they were setting up the TV for us. It honestly really is better to hear the actually voices of the speakers, however the messages are just as powerful in every language. 

At the back of the church

I never thought that I would ever look forward and enjoy general conference this much, but here I am. It was really good and there were a lot of really powerful, emotional talks given. I hope you all got to at least watch a session or two, but if you didn´t, thats OK, you can still repent! Seriously though, all of the talks that were given are up on LDS.org to watch, read or listen to. One of my favorites that I would definitely recommend would be Elder Holland's talk on caring for the poor and needy (Here). It is a masterfully given talk with much emotion. Or, another great one by President Uchtdorf about how we can know truth for ourselves (Here). Or, if you happen not to be member of our church and want to know why we keep bothering you about our beliefs, watch Elder Bednar's talk (Here). There is much wisdom to be had from these great talks, and I would encourage you to study them in the months to come until the next conference.

So another thing that actually happened last night, is that we had a great lesson with a new family. There were a reference from a member and it is a father and mother, with two daughters that are older and study in a Catholic seminary class type place. The spirit was very strong, and the two daughters especially seem prepared. We were actually talking about thier beliefs, and how they don´t really like everything the Catholic church does, especially with the worship of Saints and the Virgin Mary/Guadalupe. They said how they don´t it sort of puts something else above God and Jesus Christ. They also said how they believe that we can pray to God everywhere, and how the sacrament is important to remember Jesus. We were smiling so much. The Lord really is preparing people to receive this gospel, especially when those people are seeking to find the truth. If it wasn't for this referral from that Hermano in the ward, we probably never would have found them, or gotten inside their home. So don´t be afraid to share the gospel with your friends!

Yup, that was my week. It was a pretty good one when you lood at it. Conference was great, we had a lessons that were good too. It´s crazy that it is October already, before you know it, it will be November and December with Thanksgiving and Christmas. ¡Hasta próxima semana!

-Elder Hartvigsen